During his presidency, which constituted the Mexican Miracle, women gained the right to vote, and he instigated numerous public health, education, infrastructure, and works projects.

[2] He worked at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce during the administration of Adolfo de la Huerta and served as an official in the Department of Statistics from 1921 to 1935.

Ruiz Cortines joined the Institutional Revolutionary Party and became Senior Official of the Government of the Federal District in 1935 and member of the Chamber of Deputies for Veracruz in 1937.

In 1939 he was appointed treasurer of the presidential campaign of Manuel Ávila Camacho and worked as Governor of Veracruz from 1944 to 1948, a position he left to become Secretariat of the Interior during the administration of Miguel Alemán Valdés.

One of the oldest presidents of Mexico, Ruiz Cortines has been credited with leading a strong economy during the period known as the "Mexican miracle", and has been praised for personal integrity and increasing confidence in the government through his anti-corruption policies.

[6][7] Adolfo Tomás Ruiz Cortines was born on 30 December 1889 at 3:00 pm,[8] in the state of Veracruz, into a family of Andalusian descent.

He was also reputed for organizing fundraisers in favor of the Mexican Army during the Second French Invasion of Mexico, as well as for his deep involvement in the education of the local children.

Later, he entered a school directed by Joaquín Jerónimo Díaz and Florencio Veyro, called Escuela Amiga, but did his secondary educational studies at the Colegio de los Jesuitas, and at the age twelve, he attended the reputed Instituto Veracruzano, famously directed by the poet Salvador Díaz Mirón.

[3] In 1909, Ruiz read the book La sucesión presidencial de 1910 (The Presidential Succession of 1910) published that year by Francisco I. Madero, the leader of the opposition against President Porfirio Díaz.

Since Ruiz Cortines was opposed to the Huerta government, considered by a broad group of Mexicans as a usurper, he volunteered alongside other former students of the Instituto Veracruzano, under the command of Alfredo Robles, a right hand of the leader of the Constitutionalist faction, General Venustiano Carranza.

[12] In 1935 during the presidency of Lázaro Cárdenas, Ruiz Cortines's political career began at age 45, as the director in charge of Mexico City.

Ruiz Cortines is believed to have been chosen due to his more bland image in contrast to Alemán's more colorful personality, and was not seen as divisive to differin sectors of the PRI.

However, by September, Ruiz Cortines' base of support within the party had grown considerably, and included many young senators such as Adolfo López Mateos and Gustavo Díaz Ordaz.

[28][29] In González Luna's campaign, he addressed social and national problems, including women's suffrage, like Ruiz Cortines.

[14][29][33] The day after the election, Henríquez Guzmán's supporters gathered in the Alameda Central park in Mexico City to protest reported electoral fraud, including the theft of ballot boxes.

The government suppressed the peaceful protests, with an estimated 200 being killed, and more forced disappearances and arrests of people related to the protestors occurring in the following days.

[14] In his inaugural address, Ruiz Cortines pledged that fighting corruption in the government and in business would be key aspects of his administration,[36] and that he would continue to maintain close relations with the United States.

[37] Ruiz Cortines modified the law to promote responsibility and honesty among public servants to combat increasing amounts of corruption.

[39][40] On May 9, Sub-secretary of the Navy Alfonso Poire Ruelas was nominated to succeed Sánchez Taboada, a position which he held until the 22nd of December of that year.

[41] On January 1 1956, Ruiz Cortines nominated Viceadmiral Roberto Gómez Maqueo to fill the position, and he held it until April 1 1958.

He also implemented a plan called "March to the Sea", which had the aim of shifting population from the highlands to the coast, and making better use and development of marine and coastal resources.

However, following Ruiz Cortines's 1953 suspension of all government contracts, construction companies were weakened, the national output fell, the foreign trade deficit rose by a third, and almost all employers announced layoffs.

[47] He chose to shift away from austerity and reoriented his policy towards boosting production,[15] and announced a record $400 million spending plan to pump into public works projects.

[56] The dam on the Rio Grande (Río Bravo in Mexico) was inaugurated on October 19, 1953, by Ruiz Cortines and United States President Dwight D.

[57][58] In 1956, Ruiz Cortines attended a meeting with US President Eisenhower and Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent of Canada.

During the meeting, the leaders discussed immigration issues, economic cooperation, civil aviation and illegal fishing in coastal areas.

[61] In 1935, under Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico was one of only five countries to condemn Fascist Italy's invasion of Ethiopia (then the Ethiopian Empire or Abyssinia) during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.

Taking input from ex-presidents Lázaro Cárdenas and Miguel Alemán Valdés, each symbolizing the left and right sectors of the PRI respectively, he announced his hard-working but little-known Labor Minister Adolfo López Mateos as the next candidate, with international observers seeing López Mateos as the sure winner despite his relative obscurity.

[68] According to Miguel Alemán Velasco, President Luis Echeverría once consulted Ruiz Cortines via telephone on an unspecified policy.

At 9:05 am on Monday, 3 December 1973, Adolfo Tomás Ruiz Cortines died at 83 years of age, a victim of heart failure caused by arteriosclerosis.